The Granma newspaper, the official organ of the Cuban Communist Partyannounced this Holy Thursday that the Government had decided to pardon “more than 2,000 sanctioned people.”
The media indicated that the release was part of the “process of granting prison benefits established” by law.
Although it has been interpreted as a ‘political amnesty‘in the context of the pressure exerted by Washington on the Castro regime, the reality is that those pardoned are common prisoners.
As a condition for the pardon, the authorities have forced them to sign a commitment by which they agree to be part of the militia to defend the homeland, according to the opposition organizations.
The official note specified that it is “a humanitarian and sovereign gesture”, the result “of a careful analysis of the characteristics of the acts committed by those sanctioned.”
Excluded, among others, are crimes committed against authority. The majority of those imprisoned for political reasons are convicted for this reason.
Besides, Carlos Fernández de CossíoVice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, recently declared to NBC that Cuba “is not talking about prisoners” in the negotiation. “It is an internal matter and the US knows it,” he added.
A few hours after the announcement, the first departures were recorded in different penitentiary centers. From Las Limas, Marianao, Havana, Las Tunas or the Prison of Forced Labor Toledo 2the media reported a constant trickle.
The official body reported that those released included young people, women and adults over 60 years of age. No one was published pardoned list nor the crimes for which they had been convicted, but the reporters waiting at the prison doors They did not identify any political prisoners between them.
The text indicated that the release It occurred in the “context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week.” “It constitutes a common practice in our criminal justice system and the humanitarian trajectory of the Revolution,” he added.
The ‘massive’ pardons registered to date have been related to Vatican interventions: In 1998 Fidel Castro released 880 prisoners after the historic visit of John Paul II. In 2011, his brother Raúl forgave 2,900, as a result of John Paul II’s trip to the island.
Benedict XVI and Francis I They promoted two new actions: 3,000 people in 2012 and 3,522, the largest of all, in 2015. In the first case, the opposition in exile recognized 5 dissidents among them.
The Cuban Government has never recognized the existence of those convicted of political dissidence. own Fidel Castro declared in an interview granted in 1998 to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Abel Matutes that “in Cuba there are no political prisoners, but counterrevolutionaries.”
The Granma note speaks of a “second release of people deprived of liberty” in 2026. It refers to the case of 51 inmates announced last March. Among them, the NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD) has identified 27 denounced for participating in anti-government protests.
Javier Larrondopresident and founder of PD, stated that his organization has contacted some of those released. “What has been sold as amnesty is not. There has been no forgiveness or annulment of the crimes,” he declares.
He assured that they had managed to contact some of the common prisoners. In all cases, his departure was conditioned on the commitment to “take up arms to defend the homeland if it is attacked“.
Nor can it be considered a full pardon, since “the sentences remain intact.” Some of those released must continue “under a home regime“.
The pressure from Washington
On January 3, in a press conference about the attack against Venezuela, the president Donald Trump and the secretary of state Marco Rubio They hinted that Cuba could be “the next objective.” Since then, threats of intervention have been incessant.
On January 29, the US president signed an executive order that blocked the oil supply to the island. The objective was to suffocate the Cuban economy and provoke an internal popular reaction against the regime.
But on February 28, Washington’s plans changed: the joint attack by the US and Israel on Iran put the focus of the Trump Administration on the Persian Gulf. Cuba could wait.
Trump has not stopped remembering what he has in mind for when the war in Iran ends: on March 16, at a press conference in the White Housedeclared: “It will be an honor to take Cuba.” “I can do whatever I want with Cuba,” he said.
Various sources reveal conversations between Marco Rubio and different Cuban entities. There is talk of an approach to the younger generations of Castroism. The Government of the island recognizes negotiations on issues of common interest of both States, but denies that there is talk of a change of government or political system.
Meanwhile, organizations such as Prisoners Defenders denounce that there are still more than 1,000 people imprisoned for “their political ideas, for protesting against the regime or for complaining about the situation.” They wait for the moment to regain their freedom.
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